


Fly the Nest

by chromyrose



Category: Haikyuu!!, ダイヤのA | Daiya no A | Ace of Diamond
Genre: Family, Gay Parents, M/M, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-12
Updated: 2016-07-12
Packaged: 2018-07-23 12:17:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7462968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chromyrose/pseuds/chromyrose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the SASO Bonus Round 1 prompt: "Remember when Daichi and Suga sent their son Eijun off to Seidou?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fly the Nest

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for SASO's Bonus Round one, and ended up being one of my favorite fills. In general I love crossovers where Daichi and Eijun are related, but having them be father and son was a totally new way for me to look at these characters. This fill is a little too long for my SASO fills fic collection, but if you like this and want more, be sure to check that out!

Eijun had come into their lives just a few years after Daichi and Suga had finished college and settled down in an apartment together, well before either of them had brought up kids in anything more than a “something to think about for the future” sort of way. It was Daichi's mother who called them, on a perfectly ordinary afternoon, to tell Daichi about the latest extended family drama: his father's estranged brother had a daughter in high school who was pregnant, and adamant about seeing the baby through. His mother's intentions weren't the best, more in line with the traditional thinking of a middle-aged Japanese woman, but instead of shaming this newly-discovered cousin, Daichi worried about her. Teenage pregnancy and same-sex relationships weren't exactly the same problem, but the backlash against them came from a similar place. 

But even when Daichi reached out to Hanako, it wasn't with the intention of eventually adopting her child. He felt a sense of responsibility towards this family member who probably needed some adults on her side, regardless of whether he personally approved of her choices or not. Suga had kissed him silly in their kitchen after he shared this opinion, which made it easier to endure his mother's surprise when she heard about them taking Hanako out for lunch. 

As the months of the pregnancy passed, Daichi found himself becoming more and more invested in the future of his cousin's child. The idea of a child growing up in state custody because the Sawamura family would simultaneously want nothing to do with him but have too much pride to give him up to another couple ate at him. Suga occasionally brought the unborn baby up as well, wondering how well Hanako's pregnancy was going all the way over in Nagano, if she was having trouble making arrangements for herself and the eventual baby. It only dawned on them late one night, in their soft murmuring into the pillows. 

“We could take him,” Suga mumbled. “Or her. We have the space and the money.” 

“Suga...?” 

Suga licked his lips, failed to subdue the smile growing on his face. “We always said there could be a baby someday, Dai. And now here's one in your own family.” 

Daichi had kissed Suga's shiny lips and hummed. “Let's sleep on it?”

By the next afternoon, they were making plans to head down to Nagano for the weekend for Daichi to sign all the requisite paperwork. 

–

Fifteen years had passed since Eijun was born to Hanako, and subsequently adopted by his cousin-once-removed turned father, and while Daichi had much more experience with fatherhood, it felt as if the difficulties of being a parent never ebbed, they just changed. 

Despite all of Suga's efforts to get Eijun interested in volleyball from a young age, all it took was one family outing to a baseball game to hook Eijun for life; Daichi still remembered the sparkle in his toddler son's eyes as he watched the mound like it was his religion. And he showed natural talent in spades, the way neither Daichi nor Suga had ever quite achieved in volleyball. Honestly, he reminded Daichi of Hinata back when they first met him; bright-eyed and eager, if not a little rough around the edges still. 

Takashima Rei agreed. Never in his wildest dreams did Daichi think he'd see his son recruited into one of Tokyo's best baseball high schools, from a small-town match in Miyagi, but when the Seidou scout appeared on their doorstep, he knew it was deserved. 

It felt right to watch the emotions flicker on Eijun's face until he settled on pride, a pride Daichi and Suga both reflected openly. It felt right to help him keep his throwing arm strong in the winter with games of catch that lasted until their frostbitten noses could take no more. It felt right to fill out the paperwork, to take Eijun shopping for a year's worth of clothes to take with him and grow into. 

It felt right, but that didn't make it any easier to poke his head into his son's room on the night before their departure for Tokyo and find him sitting in the middle of piles of stuff. 

“Not done packing yet, Eijun? Hurry up and finish, your father wants us to watch a movie together before bed tonight.”

Eijun looked up sheepishly, a pile of neatly folded shirts, courtesy of Suga, resting in his lap. 

“It's hard to know what I want to take and what I should leave here. I don't want you guys to miss me too much, so I've gotta leave some of my important things so you can be assured I'll come back!” 

Daichi hesitated for a moment, before cautiously stepping over books and bedding to sit down on Eijun's futon. 

“Of course we know you're coming back. I think if that was ever up in the air, Dad would dust off the leash backpack from when you were young and keep you with him at all times. So if something is important enough that you think you'll miss it, take it.”

Eijun looked down at his shirts, and seemed to consider this. 

“Dad?” 

“Yes?” 

“I want to go to Seido. I've never been more excited for anything in my entire life; a real team, a real catcher! I could go to Nationals in my first year! But when I think about how empty the house is gonna be for you and Dad...” 

Oh. Daichi remembered the ache in the pit of his gut the night before he left for college, the first time he'd be living away from his family, and the way that Eijun trailed off brought an echo of that ache back. He and Suga would be hurting without their son, and Eijun would be in an entirely new place, with unfamiliar surroundings and unknown people. 

Most parents had the luxury of three more years before a talk like this was necessary, and Daichi envied them endlessly. 

He reached forward and gently knocked his fist against Eijun's shoulder. “Dad and I got by on our own before you were born. I think we can handle the few months you're away making a name for yourself. But you'll probably want to call us every night, just to be sure.” 

Eijun laughed, but there was nothing subtle about the way he swiped his forearm quickly over his eyes. 

“And if I have to call some mornings, too? Just to be sure you got through the night okay?” 

Daichi laughed, then, and nodded. “That's why you've got a cell phone. Make sure to keep it charged, because if we can't get through to you we'll have to call in the National Guard. Just study hard, play hard, and know that we're proud of you no matter what.” 

Eijun looked up from his half-empty luggage. His eyes were obviously wet, but he was beaming nonetheless. “Yeah. Thanks, Dad. I'll be out to say goodnight soon.” 

–

It had been a rough night with little sleep. It felt as if every time Daichi had finally drifted off, a sudden panic for his son roused him right back to wakefulness. He envied Suga, who had done all of his crying in twenty minutes and then fell asleep shortly before midnight. At least when Eijun was an infant, they took turns waking up in a blind panic about him. 

When Daichi did finally wake up, it was later than he'd hoped. He rushed through a quick shower and changed into comfortable travel clothes, but slowed his pace when he heard conversation coming from the kitchen. 

“--Make sure you're eating enough, okay Ei-kun? I know it won't be as good as my food, but you need to keep up your strength. Their baseball program sounds scarily intense.”

Eijun's laugh echoed down the hall to where Daichi was snooping. “I can handle it. Bad food, harsh training, I'm ready for whatever they're going to throw at me! You and Dad always said I was made of tough stuff.” 

“And you are, but I'm still allowed to worry. It's in the job description for being a dad, between the diapers and the safe sex talk.” 

“Y-Yeah, well, don't worry too much or you'll get wrinkles and the grannies at the supermarket will stop hitting on you and making Dad get all jealous.” 

Then it was Suga laughing, the same bright, airy sound that Daichi fell in love with when _he_ was fifteen. 

“I do love when that happens,” Suga agreed. “I'll send you pictures of his pouty face on Snapchat.”

Daichi decided that was as good a moment as any to interrupt, before they started making plans to turn him into an internet meme of some kind. He strode into the kitchen trying to look like a man who had gotten a solid eight hours of sleep, but that facade melted when Suga pressed a mug of hot coffee into his hand.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” He chirped, then kissed Daichi's cheek. “You'll have to have two cups today, you're driving the first leg. I know you hate the traffic in Tokyo.” 

“Thanks,” he mumbled, taking the seat behind Eijun, who was inhaling eggs and rice like a fiend and just nodded in this direction. As the coffee warmed his gut and woke his mind, a voice in Daichi's head that sounded an awful lot like seventeen year old Asahi lamented, “ _This is our last breakfast together for at least six months._ ”

“Begone, negative goatee,” he snapped at himself, causing both Suga and Eijun to look up. Confusion was as plain as day on Eijun's face, especially when Suga had to brace himself against the counter to keep from falling over in his laughter. 

They didn't get to explain it to Eijun; the rest of the morning passed in a flurry of packing the car and hitting the road. After tight hugs that lasted just long enough to embarrass their son in front of his new schoolmates, including one potent cheek kiss from Suga, they waved him off as Eijun stormed into his dorm room. 

Then Suga elbowed Daichi in the gut, not gently at all. “'Begone, negative goatee'?” He echoed with a grin. “When did you get so sentimental, Dai?... Daichi?” 

Daichi moved quickly to wipe the tears from his eyes, and cleared his throat. 

“We should... we should get going. He's okay here. We don't want to be those weird parents who hover for too long.” 

Suga twined his fingers with Daichi's and squeezed his hand tight. “Yeah, Papa Dai. Let's go home.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think! And if you like my work, feel free to check me out online @ [twitter](https://twitter.com/haikyuutiie) | [tumblr](http://zahhaked.tumblr.com)


End file.
